Andrew Yurochko, Ph.D., Louisiana Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Carroll Feist Chair of Viral Oncology, Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats.
Andrew Yurochko is also a working PI of the NIH COBRE Center for Applied Immunology and Pathological Processes.
Carroll Feist Endowed Chair of Viral Oncology was named Vice Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and is serving as a Co-PI on a recently awarded Program Project Grant from the National Institutes of Health focusing on how HCMV affects signaling pathways in infected hematopoietic progenitor cells.
Major Research Interests:
Mechanisms of Human Cytomegalovirus Dissemination and Pathogenesis. We are examining the biological events in human monocytes following HCMV infection because of the critical role these cells play in viral dissemination and the ensuing pathogenesis in AIDS and transplant patients, as well as congenitally infected infants, where HCMV is the leading infectious cause of birth defects.
We are addressing from a molecular standpoint, how viral infection of monocytes forces these cells to serve as Trojan Horses for viral spread from the blood into peripheral tissues and then as a source of long-term viral persistence in these tissues.
We showed that HCMV specifically activates monocytes and induces monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation and that these viral-induced macrophages become permissive for viral replication, suggesting that HCMV utilizes a novel mechanism for viral dissemination and persistence.
Future studies include the examination of the mechanisms responsible for the viral-directed differentiation of monocytes, as well as the functional changes that occur in infected macrophages.